The Secret Payoff of #NaNoWriMo

Welcome to the frenzy of NaNoWriMo!

It’s November again and that means it’s time for NaNoWriMo 2013! What’s that, you ask? That’s National Novel Writing Month. Every November, wild and crazy writers begin to write a novel (or book) of at least 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1,667 words per day! Hit this goal and you’re a WINNER! This will be my fourth time, having won it twice before.

To quote the NaNowriMo website:

“NaNoWriMo is all about using the magical power of deadlines to tell your story. Give someone a goal and a goal-minded community and miracles are bound to happen.”

So, is it really a contest? Well, sort of. You’re competing against yourself. This is really a test of your mental endurance and self-motivation. Can you keep up the pace and win the big prize?

Of course, this is all done on the honor system. Every day, you enter the number of words you’ve written and update it. This shows the world your progress on your profile and your website/blog (if you’ve installed one of the free widgets provided). Along with my updates via social media, I’ve held myself accountable. I have to push myself or I could look like a foolish.

Well, not really. Even if you don’t win, you really do. If you only get 20,000 words written, you’re that much closer to finishing your novel than you were before NaNoWriMo. This is what I call the secret payoff. You’re a “winner” no matter what!

But if you do hit the 50K mark, your payoff is huge! You have a completed novel. Now you can stop boring your friends and family about how you’re going to write that great novel.

Now you can bore your friends and family about how you’ve written that great novel!

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Ok, what’s the prize? You’ll receive an official “Winner” web badge and a PDF Winner’s Certificate. You can save it, print, and show off to those now-jealous friends.

Now, all you have to do is edit your great novel. It’s a first draft, actually. You know what Ernest Hemingway famously said about first drafts, right?